The High-Quality Child Care Tax Credit: Because, apparently, the US is rolling in money

Last updated on: September 3, 2015 at 8:21 pm by Jane the Actuary

The High-Quality Child Care Tax Credit: Because, apparently, the US is rolling in money 2015-09-03T20:21:18-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This comes via the Washington Post’s Wonkblog, which tries to be data-heavy and, well, wonky, but sometimes leans much too far to the left for my taste. Today they featured a proposal released by the Center for American Progress, labelled a model for the Democratic candidates, which aims to fund child care via subsidies in much the same way as Obamacare funds healthcare, with parent contributions ranging from 2% of pay at 133% of poverty line to 12% at 250% of poverty, with unspecified adjustments for more than one child. This program would cover children from birth to age 3, and is intended to augment other proposals for universal preschool for 3s & 4s, and additional subsidies for childcare for before/after school and summers for these kids. The total targeted annual benefit, inclusive of the parent contribution? $14,000.

But here’s the kicker: this isn’t your ordinary proposal for child care subsidies, because this pushes the notion of High Quality Child Care, and aims to establish, as a norm, center-based child care. It’s as if Obamacare subsidized only “Gold” plans. Only “top tier” programs are eligible for the subsidy — a parent couldn’t choose a provider from a lower tier, and pocket the cost differential. In-home care is addressed through the notion that a home daycare provider could theoretically make the necessary improvements to qualify as a “top tier” provider, though this seems unlikely in practice, as the requirements are somewhat nebulous but among them is the requirement that the “students” be “taught” according to a “research-based curriculum.” I would expect that all manner of requirements, and the paperwork to demonstrate compliance, would make it difficult indeed for in-home care to qualify as “top tier.”

What’s more, the system is designed to produce higher wages for childcare workers by including the workers’ pay as one of the metrics:

The High-Quality Child Care Tax Credit would address this problem [low wages] by supporting an average annual fulltime salary of $34,000. This translates to an hourly wage of about $16 per hour and would include a benefits package. States would also be required to incorporate wages into their QRIS [ the metric for identifying the top tier], with input from a broad range of stakeholders, including child care workers. This average is not intended to be a cap; staff members with higher credentials, more experience, and greater competency should earn progressively higher wages. Moreover, child care providers would agree to pay staff an annual salary, not on an hourly basis.

This pay boost, with benefits, makes the generous-seeming $14K likely insufficient to cover the costs.

And what about families who arrange with a relative (e.g., a grandmother) to care for their child? This is to be phased out:

The CCDBG [block grants for poor families] will continue to support families who currently rely on relatives for child care, but children should transition to the High-Quality Child Care Tax Credit over time.

Now, some time ago, I had said that there was a certain reasonableness to government subsidies/tax credits for child care; so long as the amounts in question were lower than the “secondary worker’s” tax, if that subsidy encouraged that worker to work, instead of stay at home, it would be a net benefit for the government in terms of tax revenue gained.

But this is a different story altogether. This is an effort to push all children out of the home and into childcare, and, what’s more, into institutional settings, and wholly discards the preferences of parents who want to avoid that, especially for infants. (* Disclosure: I had a negative experience with in-home care, and switched to a center — in both cases, only for part-time care, two or three days a week — but I have talked to parents who have been happy with the former, and believe that there are pluses and minuses to each.)

Oh, and the cost? A claimed $40 billion per year (they don’t provide the assumptions that underlie the calculation).

So — on the one hand, this is the same sort of wish list we see over and over, just perhaps more fleshed out than in the past, with its notion of promoting high wages as well as low out-of-pocket costs to parents. At the same time, it’s still vague in its definition of “high quality” — one suspects that this would be defined based on 1001 bureaucratic rules, from the number of required minutes of daily reading, to the healthfulness of the food, and other items that can be measured, rather than intangibles.

But at the same time, Wonkblog treats this as a likely part of the agenda of whichever candidate is the Democratic nominee, just as much as the Free College! plans. And the notion that every child should be in a “classroom” from infancy, for the majority of his waking hours, is wrong, and it’s not just about whether a parent is the primary caregiver, but about the unnaturalness of the age-segregated classroom environment for very young children.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 3, 2015

Chaos in Hungary / Endgame in Syria?

Next Post

September 3, 2015 Why selectivity? From the library: The Tyranny of the Meritocracy by Lani Guinier

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What book comes directly after Lamentations?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hosea Daniel Ezekiel Jeremiah